Jesus Is Irrelevant!

Yep, you read it correctly! Jesus is irrelevant. The Catholic Church, too, is irrelevant. We, as a people, have become enlightened and no longer need the restrictive rules and guidelines set forth by Christ and the Church. The Church is run by a bunch of old curmudgeons. That's right, I said curmudgeons. They have no right to tell me what to do or how to live my life! Their rules are outdated and arbitrary.

This is how I started my high school youth group meeting the other day. It certainly got their attention (got yours too!). I was pointing out the way many people feel about the Catholic Church and religion in general. It's a shame that so many people feel this way.

I believe that many people have this bad attitude towards Christianity and religion because they feel it restricts their freedom. They feel that the teachings of Christ and the Church is too restrictive and that they need to change their rules (or eliminate them) in an effort to be more "inclusive" and respectful of others who feel differently.

What they fail to see, is that Christ and the Church calls us to a life of discipline, not to restrict us or exclude us, but to lead us to a life of happiness. Christ doesn't want us to be disciplined for His sake, but for ours. Lack of discipline leads to slavery. I used the example of an alcoholic in my youth group meeting. No one wakes up in the morning and says "I want to be an alcoholic!" But, through a lack of discipline in their alcohol consumption, alcoholics eventually become addicted to it and slaves to it. You can take that same analogy and apply it to any vice--money, sex, drugs, etc. Without rules--without discipline--there is no freedom.

The Catholic Church is not irrelevant. The rules in place are there for a reason. The Church calls us to a life of discipline to free us from the bonds of sin. The more I come to understand the things the Catholic Church teaches the more I see that living a life of discipline is an important aspect in our faith journey. Now, if only I could be more disciplined...

Thank God For Our Priests!

This year in the Catholic Church is "The Year for Priests." I've spent a lot of time thinking about the priesthood over the years. Our priests are, for the most part, wonderful men of God who are trying to lead others closer to Christ. And they don't get enough credit. Take a moment and think about the priests that are in your life--both past and present. I know, for myself, I have oftentimes been critical of the priests that I have come across in my life. I have not given them enough credit. I have criticized them for the way they say the Mass. I have criticized them for having too much of a focus on money--and not enough of a focus on faith. I do not give them the benefit of the doubt.

Our priests work hard. They have a lot on their plates. They are charged with "running the business" of the parish in addition to feeding the spiritual needs of their flock. This is not an easy task. Their jobs are often 24/7. They sacrifice an awful lot and get very little in turn. All we do is ask them for more and criticize them for what they are doing.

My perspective on the priesthood has changed over the years. Working in a parish full time has helped to change my perspective. The priests I work with in my parishes truly are wonderful men. We need to thank the priests in our lives. They sacrifice much more than their vows call for. They deserve our love. They deserve our respect. They deserve our gratitude--regardless of how you feel they run the parish or say the Mass. Do you think you could do all they do and hold it together as well as they do? I don't think I could.

They deserve our prayers.

Prayer for Priests taken from the USCCB.
Dear Lord,
we pray that the Blessed Mother
wrap her mantle around your priests
and through her intercession
strengthen them for their ministry.
We pray that Mary will guide your priests
to follow her own words,
“Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).
May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph,
Mary’s most chaste spouse.
May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart
inspire them to embrace
all who suffer at the foot of the cross.
May your priests be holy,
filled with the fire of your love
seeking nothing but your greater glory
and the salvation of souls.
Amen.
Saint John Vianney, pray for us.

I'm Too Busy....

I'm just too busy. I'm too busy to take care of my self physically. I don't often eat healthy. I don't exercise or get enough sleep. I'm just too busy.

I'm too busy to nurture the relationships in my life. I'm too busy to spend good, quality time with my wife. I'm too busy to play with my kids. I'm too busy to mend the broken relationships with my siblings and my parents. I just don't have time to give the love that my family deserves.

I'm too busy to develop my mind. I don't have time to sit down and read a book or article that will stretch me intellectually--that will help expand my world view and give a clearer picture of life.

I'm too busy to pray. I don't take the time I need to spend in silence talking with God. I am too busy to find a spiritual director. Even if I did have one, I'd be too busy to receive the much needed direction.

What am I too busy doing? I don't know. I'm too busy keeping busy. God gives us enough time every day to do the things He wants us to do. Why do I find it difficult to take care of myself physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually? Why do I find it difficult to find the time to do what God wants me to do? Because I'm too busy doing what I want to do.

What are you too busy doing?

Heavenly Father, Give me the grace to see what you want me to do. Give me the strength to give up what I want to do and, instead, to do what you want me to do. For it is in doing your will that I will find the time to do what needs to be done. It is in doing your will that I will find true happiness.

“Lack of prayer is the cause of lack of time.” – Peter Kreeft

Help the Vocation Crisis By Encouraging Marriage!

For many years the leadership of the Catholic Church in America (and perhaps elsewhere) have been talking about the crisis in vocations to the priesthood and religious life. In the conversation to address the issue of the crisis in the priesthood, there have been many suggestions made. Stepping up the campaign to recruit good men, allowing priests to marry, and allowing women to become priests have been popular ideas floating around. While there are people that have strong arguments on both sides of the married priest and female priest debate, I'm not going to address this debate now. If you want to know my views on women priests, you can read my post on why women can't be priests. There is one idea that I have heard that I feel needs more attention, and that is encouraging marriage.

When I first heard of the idea of promoting marriage as a way to increase celibate vocations, I didn't understand the connection between the two. I mean, how can a marriage encourage celibacy? It just didn't make sense to me. But I heard this idea from several sources. So I spent some time thinking about it, and it started to make sense. Marriage and holy orders are both vocations--they both are a commitment. They are both covenants: marriage a covenant between man, woman, and God and holy orders a covenant between man, the Church, and God.

Marriage is also in a crisis, like holy orders. Fewer and fewer people are choosing to get married. And for those of that do decide to marry, many of those marriages end in divorce. People are no longer making the commitment to married life. Many Catholics are no longer taking this sacrament seriously. However, people are still having children. And we have (and are continuing to) raise a culture of children that does not understand the commitment to a vocation because they don't see it modeled in their own lives.

If we, as a culture, aren't making a commitment to the vocation, the sacrament, of marriage, how can we expect our children to make that commitment as well? We need to model that committed behavior in our lives, in our relationship with our spouses. If we can address the marriage crisis by encouraging strong and committed marriages, our children will understand that vocations require commitment. And if we strive for holiness in our marriages then our children will see the importance of holiness, and hopefully strive for it themselves.

It is not celibacy or a male-only priesthood that is at the heart of our crisis in vocations to the priesthood. It is lack of commitment to vocation. If we don't model a commitment to our marriage vocation then our children won't be committed to their vocation--whether it be priesthood or marriage.

The Eucharist: God Knows What He is Doing!

....not that I'm one to question God. I've always believed in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. But not everyone does. Many people doubt and outright deny the Real Presence. Sadly, there are even some Catholics who doubt that God knows what He is doing when it comes to the Eucharist.

A big part of the Catholic argument for the Real Presence has always been "The Bread of Life Discourse" in the Gospel of John (Jn. 6:22-71). Here we have Jesus telling his disciples that "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day" (v. 53-54). Christ felt that what he was saying was so important that he stated it twice. He wanted his disciples to understand this. Christ is saying that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood. This is not a metaphor for the bible. The bible is not the Bread of Life, Christ is! Why would the disciples say this if Jesus were only speaking metaphorically: "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Why did Jesus respond with this if he was speaking metaphorically: "Does this shock you?" Why would the disciples be shocked if all Christ was saying was to metaphorically "eat" His words. Did the disciples just not understand what Christ was saying? I don't think so. I think they understood all too well, and that is why "as a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former life and no longer accompanied him." I think Christ's disciples understood that we needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to obtain eternal life. That is why it was hard for them to accept. That is why they were shocked. That is why many of them left. But I digress....

God truly does know what He is doing! Many events in Christ's life leading up to this moment, this Bread of Life Discourse, foreshadow this event--from the multiplication of the loaves, to the wedding at Cana, to even Christ's birth. Yes, even Christ's birth. I recently read a reflection from Archbishop Timothy Dolan that helped me to understand that even Christ's birth is a foreshadowing of Christ's institution of the Eucharist.

Dolan points out that Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger. And what is a manger? A manger is a feeding trough. The Son of Man, at birth, was placed in a food container. The Bread of Life was placed on a dish. God has a perfect plan for our salvation. Everything that has, is, and will occur in the world is a part of that plan. The Eucharist is a part of His plan. God truly does know what He is doing! I just pray that I can trust and believe.

I Love My Wife

Love is not a feeling. As Kari and I celebrate 13 years of marriage this weekend, I have been reflecting on this statement quite a bit. It is something that I have learned the hard way--and am still learning to this day.

(Photo of us taken just prior to our courtship)

We got married at a relatively young age, I was 22 and she was 21. We were still just kids ourselves. We hardly knew what love was. I was still in college and working as a department manager at Barnes & Noble making just $7.50 per hour. She had a job working as a trainer for a clothing and housewares catalog making slightly more than me. Although no one said so, I imagine many people thought that we were crazy to get married so young and with such a meager income. Some people may have even thought that our marriage wouldn't last.

To be honest, there were times in our marriage, especially early on, that I also thought our marriage wouldn't last. It was during that time in our life where I (possibly both of us) thought that love was a feeling. When we first started dating, like most couples, our relationship was driven by our feelings. Kari made me feel good about myself. I felt happy, confident, and "loved"

when I was near her.

After our marriage those feelings started to fade--as is normal for all long-term relationships. However, I had not realized that love was not a feeling. I wanted those feelings back. We fought often and our marriage really struggled. We thought about and talked about separating--about divorce. Even though we talked about divorce, it was never a real option for us. We were both committed to our marriage and wanted to make it work--for better or for worse.

So we worked through our issues. And our relationship strengthened. And then we worked through more issues. And our relationship strengthened. And then some more...even to today. Now don't get me wrong, we don't have a broken marriage. We have a very normal marriage. Every couple deals with issues in their marriage. The committed and loving couple works through those issues instead of giving up at the first sign of distress. This is what love is. Love is commitment. Love is willing the good of another. Love is dialogue. Love is selfless.

(Kari and I today)

So, as I reflect on the past 13 years, I realize that I am truly blessed. I am blessed with a job that I love. I am blessed with 5 beautiful and wonderful children. Most of all, I am blessed to have Kari in my life. I am blessed to have learned what love is with her at my side as an example of love. I am thankful to the Lord for giving us the strength to work together in overcoming all the obstacles that life brings us. And now I know what love is.

Eating Garbage

Over the past couple of months, with the birth of our fifth child, illness, and broken limbs, my wife and I have dished out an enormous amount of money to the medical community (NO! This is not going to be a post about the current health care "crisis"). While we live in a one income household (and a meager income at that) and the expenses we have could be a great concern for us, it is not.We're not concerned in part because of this...

We don't have to eat anyone else's leftovers. We do not have to worry about where our next meal is going to come from or whether or not we are going to have a roof over our head. Yes, it is difficult to do so, but all the medical bills get paid. The utilities, the mortgage, and the grocery bills get paid as well. There may not be much left over, but all of our basic needs are taken care of. I am forever grateful for that.

Issues of money and poverty are one of my passions. Before youth ministry, I came from an industry that was all about money--and making more of it. I'm not criticizing the financial services industry or financial advisors. I have nothing wrong with people planning for their future financially. It is a very smart thing to do. But the problem I have is when the pursuit of money becomes the sole focus in people's lives. I have seen the ravenous pursuit of wealth and possessions and it sickens me, particularly when I see videos like the one above.

Many people may see the video above or images of starving children in Africa and they may be moved by what they see. Some people may actually reach out and do something to help those in poor countries. But many of us look at these images and don't make the connection on a deep level. We cannot relate to what we see because it is too distant for us. As a result, although we want to help out, we don't.

However, the problem isn't just in Africa. It's not just in Asia. The problem of poverty is also in our own back yards. We don't have to go far to reach out to someone in need. It may be the homeless guy on the street. It may be a co-worker. It may be a classmate. We may not be able to do much, but we can do something--even if it is packing a lunch for the homeless man or woman you see on your way to work every day, or buying a struggling co-worker or classmate lunch from time to time.

We all can make an effort to do something. We don't have to do much (although the more we do the better). Reach out to someone in need today. Make a positive impact on the life of someone--even if it is just praying for someone who is struggling. And if you have the resources to do more, then do it. Don't worry so much about the future. Focus on the needs of others today.